The concept of life beyond death draws much fascination from storytellers. Pixar’s newest film, “Coco” (2017), does not necessarily stage it as a central point, but rather uses it to emphasize the coexistence of family and ambition. This idea develops through the actions of an eager boy from Mexico who breaks from tradition on Día […]

It is often said that an overarching sense of anxiety or dread permeates the work of famed writer Joan Didion. For instance, her memoir “The Year of Magical Thinking” (2005) is haunted by the reader’s knowledge of the death of her daughter, which occurred just before its publication. In a similar fashion, “Neruda” (2016) makes […]

In a powerful scene from the second act of “Rosewater,” where the film’s protagonist, from within his solitary confinement cell, imagines a Leonard Cohen song and finds himself dancing. At this point, he has been imprisoned for months and interrogated relentlessly for a confession. He is routinely deprived of his senses, blindfolded whenever taken out […]